Spiritual Direction takes place when two people agree to give their full attention to what God is doing in one (or both) of their lives and seek to respond in faith.
Eugene Peterson
What is it?
Spiritual Direction is two people attentively listening to each other and God. But let’s dig a little deeper and hear from some of our mentors:
Spiritual direction … explores and develops this absorbing and devout attentiveness to “the specific detail of everyday incidents,” “the everyday occurrences of contemporary life.” … Spiritual direction takes place when two people agree to give their full attention to what God is doing in one … of their lives and seek to respond in faith.
Spiritual direction is the name given to the particular kind of helping relationship whose primary objective is to discern how God is inviting someone to be, to live, to appreciate and to act in the midst of life.
We define spiritual direction then as help given by one Christian to another which enables that person to pay attention to God’s personal communication to him or her, to respond to this personally communicating God, to grow in intimacy with this God, and to live out the consequences of the relationship.
Who Comes to Spiritual Direction?
People often come to a spiritual director when they are in a time of transition. But we have found that our lives are always in transition so both Barbara and I have maintained a relationship with a spiritual director for many years.
Some people choose to come to a spiritual director because they want to pay closer attention to the movement of God in their life.
Often one comes to a spiritual director because they want to talk to someone who will respect them and their experience and assist them in paying prayerful attention to what they are already thinking and feeling
What Role Does Spiritual Direction Play on a Retreat?
Many silent retreats intersperse times with a Spiritual Director to help you sift through what you are experiencing and what you are hearing. When you schedule your retreat, just let us know if you would like Spiritual Direction during your time here.
How Can I Find Out More about Spiritual Direction
You can email us at SpiritualDirection@ListeningToGod.org
Or you can call us at 860 478 0562